Worrying
by AniZH
Summary: When Beck feels bad, it's not easy to see for the others. Except for Jade, who notices and hates when Beck doesn't tell her what's wrong. That doesn't mean she isn't there for him, even without knowing the reason for his bad mood.


Hello!  
Here's another little one shot. I got the idea for this because the user 'Dare to be Something More' wished for a story where Jade is there for Beck after I wrote a few stories the other way around. Weeeell... I don't think it's exactly want you wanted, Dare to be Something More, but thank you so much for the idea. I might come back to it some day and do it over again in a smarter way and with Jade actually... doing more and her support showing in a more obvious way.  
But yeah... I'm still happy with this little thing, though I do have to say it's kind of a pointless story. But you should be used to my stories not having important plot lines.  
Please, enjoy.

* * *

Beck is off and it annoys Jade like hell.

Well, no, the fact that he is off , doesn't annoy her. The fact that he pretends like everything's okay – that does annoy her.

He comes into school later than her. They drive together to school mostly, but it also happens that they drive seperately. And then, it also happens that Jade is in school before Beck.

Jade notices that Tori's also already in school and she's sure she'll want to talk to Beck right away, because they have that stupid project due today, as Jade knows.

She, Jade, will at least take a few seconds alone with Beck before.

She closes her locker and walks through the hall over to his. He is putting a book into his locker at that moment and then also closes the door of it when Jade arrives.

"Hey," she says and he smiles lightly as he looks at her.

"Hey," he answers and they kiss.

And Beck totally behaves like usual. But she can see when something is wrong. He never shows. It's not necessarily him hiding stuff on purpose, but he's so used to being this cool guy that he even is that when he's troubled. And yes, sometimes he does hide it on purpose when he feels bad. Because Jade may be private, but Beck is too. He often needs some time to figure stuff out by himself. Though he usually tells Jade. Like she usually tells him.

As soon as they break apart, she outright asks: "What's going on?"

He looks at her as if he doesn't get what she means. "Everything's okay."

She can't help but roll her eyes and get a little annoyed. They've made a deal a long time ago that they will never lie to each other like this. It's fine for them to tell each other that they don't want to talk about it right away (though each of them honestly get annoyed whenever the other one says something alike). But outright saying that everything is okay though it's not? That actually breaks their promise.

But they are both inclined to do that when the other one just sees and asks about it and they don't want to talk.

Still, she now rolls her eyes and says, sarcastically: "Yeah, right. I'm seeing that."

"I'm telling you, everything's okay," he says, immediately sounding a little annoyed as well. Which proves that she's right.

"Why don't you just tell me?" she asks.

Now, it's Beck who rolls his eyes. "Stop nagging me."

"Seriously?" she retorts. He can be such an idiot!

He isn't hiding his annoyance at all now. "God, Jade."

"Tell me," she demands because this is stupid. Why can't he just come right out and say it to her? They both know that it always helps him to talk about it to her whenever something is up.

But he almost glares at her as he says between gritted teeth: "It's none of your business."

"Yeah, sure, because I'm not your girlfriend," she shoots back.

Beck answers louder this time: "I never said that! Don't always be like this!"

And with that, he actually turns around and leaves her standing at his locker. She rolls her eyes once more before she goes to her own class.

She hasn't noticed Tori standing around anymore, but the other girl now catches up with her halfway to the class they share.

"Hey. Everything alright with you?" Tori asks her.

Jade slowly turns to her, cocking an eyebrow. She isn't seriously asking her that, is she?

Tori bites her lip, before she explains her question: "I'm only asking because I overheard you with Beck just now. How you asked him what's going on. I know that tactic. Asking the guy, so he asks back..."

Even after knowing her for more than a year and somewhat being friends, Jade still doesn't understand Tori sometimes. Is she serious about this? She asks a guy what's going on, so he asks her? That's so stupid that Jade can't even think of an insult out of confusion.

Tori apparently doesn't notice how stupid Jade thinks she is once more. Instead, she prompts her after they walk to class in silence for a moment. "So? What's going on with you?"

Jade rolls her eyes. "As if I would ever tell you!" Like she cares if Tori thinks she only asked Beck because something is up with her, not with him. All their friends act like they are oh so attentive and whatever – but they can never see with Beck.

But Beck also likes to keep it that way, so Jade won't correct Tori, won't tell her that her way to think is stupid and that there is actually something going on with Beck, not with Jade.

She won't tell anyone. She won't even give them a hint. She won't ask Beck about it again, while they are in school. If he's ready to talk about it while still at school, he'll pull her aside, she guesses.

Yes, it totally annoys her to not know what's wrong with him, but she guesses she has to suck it up for now.

So, after class she gets both of them a coffee and gives him his at his locker in silent. He pulls her in for a kiss, which they share and which means that everything's fine between them, even after they bickered earlier.

She still notices something wrong with him, but this time, she won't say anything about it.

Andre starts talking to them and Beck acts like normal – as does Jade.

.

.

It's only during lunch that Jade thinks their friends could notice too. Beck seems deep in thought, as soon as he starts eating. He doesn't listen at all to their friends' talk, though he usually does.

Jade is sure, their friends don't notice it yet, but they will, when he won't react to them laughing or anything. And then, they might wonder too, what's up, and Beck is also so very protective about his feelings and obviously doesn't want anyone to know about whatever's going on with him right now.

So, Jade knows she will cover for him, if they notice, will pull their attention to herself instead with some rude comment, like she does.

But for now, she will try making him attentive. Or at least showing him that he isn't alone with whatever he's thinking about. That she's with him, even if he isn't ready to talk about it.

She lets one of her hands drop under the table and then wander over to Beck's leg. Beck doesn't look at her as she gently touches him. He keeps looking in the direction of their friends as if he's listening though he's clearly not.

But one of his hands prompty finds hers and takes it, pulling it in his lap.

.

.

They are in his car now, after school. She takes no time and directly asks, before they are even out of the parking lot: "Gonna tell me, what's wrong with you?"

He glances over to her, takes one of his hands off the steering wheel to take her hand instead.

"I'll tell you at home," he finally says.

That's good enough for her, especially as she always likes when he just says 'home', not 'my home' or 'my RV' or something alike.

She walks into the RV first, when they arrive and he follows, locks the door behind himself and grabs her arm in the same move to stop her from further walking inside, to keep her close. The next second they kiss.

Somehow, they turn while kissing, until she stands at the door. He pushes her against it as they kiss even deeper.

She can barely breathe, but that's not the reason why she pushes him away after some time. The reason is that she knows that he only makes out with her like this to escape, to not have to talk about it after all, to forget about whatever he's worrying about.

Which is stupid, because it won't work. She knows Beck. If it would work and would help him, she would probably go with it. But it doesn't.

So, she pushes him away, holds him at his collar, looks him straight in the eyes, demanding: "Tell me."

He looks back at her, takes a deep breath and then finally answers: "This morning, I went into the house and heard my parents talking. About a doctor's appointment for my dad."

Jade hasn't known Beck's father was sick. She realizes that Beck also hasn't known. That was one of the reasons he felt so bad about it and wasn't able to talk about it right away. Obviously, it wasn't only a preventive checkup or something.

She lets her hands sink from his collar onto his chest as he says with a heavy voice. "He has some symptoms, is like... bleeding. And he apparently already has been to a doctor with it but they haven't found anything yet."

"And they didn't tell you," she quietly says.

They never loose eye contact, as his face finally opens a little bit, his eyes start to show how lost he feels and has felt since he heard those news.

"They didn't. I overheard and then burst in and asked them about it. And I'm so angry at them and at the same time I'm so scared for him."

He leans forward, lies his forehead against Jade's, closing his eyes.

She puts one of her hands in Beck's neck, as she softly says: "I know."

Because she does know. She gets it. He wants to know about stuff like this and that his parents didn't tell him right away, that his father might have been sick for some weeks now and they didn't talk about it to him... it pisses him off. But he can't be pissed off at his father right now, because he's also scared for him. He's sick of worry.

"It's stupid," he claims quietly. "It's probably nothing big. But I can't help but think that it will be big and that he's really sick and..."

He stops talking, helplessly.

Jade pulls him into a gentle kiss. Only then, she says: "It's not stupid. It's natural that you are afraid. It's fine, Beck."

She knows he often needs reassurance that it's fine however he feels. Sometimes, he seems to find it unnatural when he feels particularly strongly – or not strong enough in his own opinion.

He opens his eyes again, smiles slightly at her, almost thankful, then kisses her once more. This time it isn't for escape. It's in search for comfort. And she's more than willing and able to give him that.

.

.

There is a knock on the door more than an hour later, when they lie on the couch together, listening to music, playing on their phones every now and then, but mainly just cuddling with each other, she lying on top of him.

"Beck, it's me," Beck's father says through the door.

"Dad," Beck immediately says and Jade can sit up just in time, then Beck is already up from under her and scatters to the door.

He unlocks and opens it.

"Dad," he says once more as he sees his father in front of the door. "How was it at the doctor's?"

He steps aside while asking and lets his father walk in. Then he closes the door back up behind him as his father notices Jade sitting on the couch.

"Jade," he curtly says. He has never gotten over that dog, that Jade got for Beck, attacking him. He's much friendlier to Jade and more open about her than his wife. He tries to be on good terms with Jade, but it's not easy.

And this also is nothing he wants to talk about with her around. After she nods to him in greeting, he asks Beck: "Can we talk alone?"

Jade is willing to leave the RV for a few minutes for them to talk. This is a serious topic and Beck needs to know everything. Usually, Beck would also let her go, but today he isn't having any of it. Today, he's ready to speak up against his parents to get what he wants and needs. Right now, he needs Jade around, the one person who weirdly always says the right thing for him when necessary, without even thinking about it.

"I will tell her anyway," he outright says.

Which means that there is not point whatsoever in sending Jade out. It won't stay between father and son.

Jade assumes that Beck's father would still like to talk to him alone, to have a personal talk, even if Jade will get to know everything about it afterwards. But the man looks to Jade once more, then to Beck again, before he makes a gesture that it doesn't matter to him and they can also talk with Jade right there. Maybe, he realizes that Beck wants Jade there, needs her there.

Jade now scoots to the very edge of the couch and Beck sits down next to her, inviting his father to sit down with them, which he does.

Though there is more room on the couch, Beck has sat down so close to Jade that they automatically touch.

Beck's father takes a deep breath and then he starts explaining about his doctor's appointment and how they finally think they found what's wrong with him. Apparently, he has at least one small wound in his stomach, which bleeds, which makes him feel sick and weak at times. It's nothing big to worry about, they say. That can happen and it's possible to close the wound without an operation. They made a new appointment for that, in which they also want to try seeing if there are more wounds, as there often is more than one when this occurs at all.

"So, everything is basically okay?" Beck asks carefully after silently listen to his father's explanation.

"I'm pretty sure it is," his father says with a nod. "I'm sorry you had to know at all."

Of course, that only irritates Beck. "I want to know about things like there. You have to tell me."

His father obviously doesn't get it. "But now you were worried, though there has never been a reason."

Beck seems speechless. Jade understands where he's coming from. And though his father won't deem this her place at all, she knows it will be fine for Beck if she speaks up. And it might be necessary. That's why she says: "If you never tell him when something might be wrong, he'll soon have to wonder every time one of you looks a little sick if you indeed are and seriously so, and you are just not telling him to not worry him."

Beck's father looks at her, while Beck gently lies his hand on her knee closest to him, glad about what she said.

His father also admits now: "I guess there's truth to that." He turns back to Beck: "Your mother and I never want to worry you. But I will try to talk to you if something like this ever happens again."

Beck only nods and his father stands back up: "Well, I don't want to take up too much of your time. You'll come in for dinner?"

"We will," Beck says, promptly deciding for Jade to come with him. But she gets that he still needs her and doesn't want her to leave, for him to eat dinner alone with his parents. He does want to eat dinner with his parents and he does want to have her around too.

The day even ends with her staying the night, though it's a school night and they barely stay over for that.

For now, Beck leads his father to the door and locks it back up behind him. He doesn't come back to the couch afterwards, but lets himself fall onto his bed on his back.

"I'm exhausted," he says.

She stands up and walks up to him, to then sit down on the edge of his bed where he's lying. She puts a hand on his chest and gently rubs over it.

She understands his exhaustion. Worrying can totally be exhausting. Even if everything turned out to be okay.

He takes her hand in his own, holds it over his chest. She's sure, she can feel his heart beat, as he adds: "And relieved."

He looks up to her and she looks back to him, smiling lightly. She's more than glad that everything indeed turned out to be okay. At least as of now. Beck should never have to worry, should never feel as bad as he felt today – or even worse.

Beck puts his free hand in Jade's neck now and pulls her down, pulls her into a happy kiss. Somewhere in that kiss is a silent thank you for being there for him.

She considers every thanks unnecessary. Of course, she's there for him, if she can and in the way she can. After all, she loves him. She loves him so damn much.


End file.
